NBA Playoffs: 5 reasons Rockets can upset Warriors

4. 2015 Western Conference Finals rematch

Whether or not this will play a factor in this first-round Western Conference series, Golden State and Houston did face off in the 2015 Western Conference Finals only a year ago. Best-of-seven game series always seem to get chippy by Games 3 or 4, so maybe bad blood will resurface between these two teams in round one?

One thing that the Rockets seem to have in their favor in this rematch, if any at all, is that the 2015-16 Rockets are largely healthier than the No. 2-seeded team that clawed its way to the Western Conference Finals last season. Dwight Howard, when healthy, has proven to be a huge boost in playoff series in his decade-plus NBA career. He didn’t have a clean bill of health virtually all of 2014-15.

While the Rockets and Warriors aren’t primary rivals with each other, as Golden State hates the Los Angeles Clippers and the Rockets loathe both the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs, squaring off with a team in the NBA Playoffs in back-to-back seasons could add some hostility to this otherwise one-sided matchup.

For not being divisional rivals, the Warriors and Rockets will have met plenty of times on the hardwood in the last two years for maybe Houston to find away to get under Golden State’s skin. Perhaps agitating power forward Green is the best way for Houston to get inside of Golden State’s head and make this tough. Don’t discredit the role playoff familiarity could have in this first round Western Conference series.

Next: 3. Deep bench rotation